Self-love Means Not Settling for Less than You Deserve

Self-love can mean something different for each person because we all have many different ways to take care of ourselves. To practice self-love means not settling for less than you deserve. Figuring out what self-love looks like for you as an individual is an important part of your mental health.

What does self-love mean to me?

For beginners who are trying to understand the meaning of self love , it can be –

• Talking to and about yourself with love
• Prioritizing yourself or putting yourself first
• Giving yourself a break from self-judgement
• Trusting yourself
• Being true to yourself
• Feeling pain and joy as fully as you can
• Setting healthy boundaries
• Forgiving yourself when you aren’t being true or nice to yourself
• Being nice to yourself

For many people, there is another way to practice self-love and that is doing self-care. To practice self-care, you often need to go back to the basics of self-care. This can include following

• Listen to your body needs
• Take breaks from work and move/stretch
• Put the phone down and connect to yourself or others
• Do something creative; for me it takes a nice walk in the middle or nature with my favorite music. It can be dancing for yourself or may be cooking something that you like
• Taking a break from regular chaos
• Eating healthily, but sometimes indulge in your favorite foods, as for me having my favorite food can change my mood literally from bad mood to a good mood very quickly.

Self-love means accepting yourself as you are in this very moment for everything that you are. It means accepting your emotions for what they are and putting your physical, emotional and mental well-being first. In my words not settling for less than you deserve.

Taylor Swift has expressed her opinion about self-love in a Elle conference that “She has come to a realization that one need to be able to forgive herself for making the wrong choices, trusting the wrong person instead of letting it bother you in your head to make u constantly feeling guilty of your past . Love starts with forgiveness and letting go of the things that u can’t control and stepping into the daylight with a let it go attitude”. I totally agree with this statement and I too believe in forgiveness of the things that are done in a past, not because someone deserve it. It’s because I DESERVE MENTAL PEACE TOO✌️✌️.

How and Why to Practice Self-love?

So now you know that self-love motivates you to make healthy choices in life. When you hold yourself in high esteem, you are more likely to choose things that nurture your well-being and serve you well. These things may be in the form of eating healthy, exercising or having healthy relationships. Don’t be afraid to let go of toxic people.

Ways to Practice self-love

Here are some of the best practices of self-love

Being Mindful

Being mindful is the first step to practice self-love. People who have more self-love; are tend to be more aware about what they think, feel, and desire.

Need Based Actions

Taking actions based on need rather than whatever want. By staying focused on what you need, you turn away from automatic behavior patterns that get you into trouble, keep you stuck in the past, and lessen self-love.

Practicing Good Self-care

You will love yourself more when you take better care of your basic needs. We have already discussed about the some of the good self-care practices.

Healthy Habits

People high in self-love nourish themselves daily through healthy activities, like sound nutrition, exercise, proper sleep, intimacy and healthy social interactions.

Make room for healthy habits. Start truly caring for yourself by mirroring that in what you eat, how you exercise, and what you spend time doing. Do stuff, not to “get it done” or because you “have to,” but because
you care about YOU.

Being Kind

Finally, to practice self-love, start by being kind, patient, gentle and compassionate to yourself, the way you would with someone else that you care about ❤️❤️.

Celebrate Moments

Don’t forget to celebrate yourself. It’s not only on your birthday but small-small moments of life which gives you feel of achievement or contentment.

So , What are your thoughts about self love? How do you chose to love yourself and take care of yourself in a hectic schedule too? Please share your views in the comment section.